7. Order Authorizing Operation of MJJ Business. On February 3, 2010,4 this Court ordered that the Executors are, among other thinggs, authorized to operate the MJJ5 Business as set forth in the Petition for Authority to Contnue Operation of Decedent's Business6 which was filed on January 22, 2010 ("Order Authonzing Operation of Business") The Court7 further ordered that the Executors shall file a status report on the management of the MJJ8 Business every nine months, begining September 7, 2010 On September 22, 2010, the9 Executors flled a Report in compliance wlth that Order and lodged with the Court conditlonally1 under seal financial information regarding the MJ J Business. The Court has since vacated the11 order requiring the Executors to file a status report on the management of the business

4. The Guardian and the Guardian Ad Litem.Michael Jackson's mother, 19 Katherine Esther Jackson ("Mrs Jackson"), is the Guardian of the Person of the Minor Children 20.Margaret G Lodise is the Guardmn Ad Liem for the Minor Children. Ms Lodise has not been discharged.

The woman thrust into the center of Jackson's estate case is a trust and estate specialist with the L.A. law firm Sacks Glazier Franklin & Lodise. She's also Lincoln High, class of '81.

"No, I definitely did not ask for it," said Lodise, 46, reached in L.A., where she lives now.

"I'm honored that the judge called me," she added. "And I'm going to do the best that I can for those kids."

Lodise hasn't been giving interviews. She made an exception evidently because she's from Stockton, and her parents live here. It didn't hurt that our parents were friends.

Still, she was guarded, obviously keenly aware that any thoughtless remark would swiftly become grist for Perez Hilton and his chattering counterparts from here to Ulan Bator.

For instance, asked if she was overwhelmed by the magnitude and contentiousness of Jackson's case (to say nothing of "Access Hollywood" calling on line 2): "I think I want to sort of no comment on that."

On Monday, Lodise goes into court. A judge must decide whether to approve a contract between Jackson's estate and concert promotions giant AEG regarding rights to video of Jackson's final rehearsals.

Another issue involves a travelling exhibition of Jackson's memorabilia. These contracts involve serious money. Jackson's brother Jermaine has estimated the exhibition could rake in $100 million.

Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson's mother, who is also custodian of Jackson's children and another beneficiary of Jackson's will, is fighting certain provisions of these deals.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff, concerned the interests of the mother and the children may not always coincide, appointed Lodise their guardian ad litem.

"It's my job to look out for the best interest of the children in this particular case in court. And the contracts are a part of it," Lodise said. "There are likely to be other issues that come up as well."

Lodise always wanted to go into law. When she entered Lincoln High, her father, Stockton attorney Darrell Glahn, pushed her into speech and debate.

The classes helped Lodise become skilled at disputation. Glahn recalled a telling incident that occurred later when his daughter went on to college at Pomona.

Students and faculty, disagreeing over exchange student policy, held a meeting. Lodise got a chance to interrogate - to cross-examine - the lead faculty adversary.

"She could see he was sweating through his coat before she was through," Glahn recalled proudly.

But afterward the faculty member complimented Lodise on effectively upholding her position.

"I figured she could do all right in a courtroom if she could put the screws to a witness without even alienating the witness," Glahn recalled.

Admits Lodise, "I obviously like getting up and arguing. The law I do is litigation, which is getting up in court and arguing."

A partner in her own law firm, and a respected authority on probate and trust, Lodise attributes her prominence to hard work, networking, volunteering on many panels and boards and teaching at legal seminars. Next year she will chair the state bar's estate and trust section.

"If you're committed to doing what you do and doing it well, good things eventually happen," she said.

Divorced, no children, she lives in downtown L.A. in a loft across from Staples Center. She likes to travel. She visits her folks here occasionally.

"I've been known to hang out at Valley Brew," she said.

Though she previously worked on part of the estate of Johnny "Guitar" Watson and, years ago, flamboyant tycoon Armand Hammer, Lodise said she is not branching into celebrity work.

"I'm not starting down the road to take a bunch of celebrity cases," Lodise said. "I've been practicing in this area for 18 years. I don't see the nature of our practice radically changing."

There are nearly 4,000 inmates at L.A. County Men's Jail, so imagine the coincidence that Dr. Conrad Murray is in a cell just feet away from Michael Jackson's former brother-in-law.

James DeBarge -- Janet Jackson's ex-husband -- is locked up after being arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and drug charges. DeBarge -- who was the lead singer of the wildly popular band, DeBarge -- has been placed in Administrative Segregation -- the place where famous inmates with security issues are housed.

Murray has been calling the Ad Segregation unit home since his conviction on manslaughter charges last November.

We're told they occasionally run into each other, most recently last Monday when they were each meeting with their respective lawyers in the visiting room.

DeBarge's lawyer, Spencer Vodnoy, tells TMZ ... the singer is "really upset" he's so close to Murray. DeBarge says even though he was married to Janet for less than a year back in '84, he thought of Michael as a brother.

The D.A. is alarmed that Dr. Conrad Murray is asking the trial judge to spring him from the pokey while he appeals his conviction in the death of Michael Jackson -- arguing Murray is a danger to society.

According to the new docs, obtained by TMZ, prosecutors say Murray has shown no remorse for his "reckless and criminal conduct that directly caused Michael Jackson's death." In other words, the D.A. says Murray just doesn't get it, and he could engage in the same conduct again if the judge lets him loose.

The D.A. also claims Murray is a flight risk, because he no longer has strong ties to California now that his medical license has been revoked.

As for Murray's grounds for appealing the conviction, the D.A. claims they're all bogus. The D.A. makes mention of the judge's decision to exclude Dr. Arnold Klein's testimony. Klein gave MJ scores of Demerol shots in the months preceding his death, but the D.A. says no traces of the drug were found in MJ's body at the time of his death.

Dr. Conrad Murray just filed legal docs in which he claims his manslaughter conviction should be overturned, on grounds that the judge should have allowed him to prove ... Michael Jackson was so stressed out over his financial woes ... he recklessly rolled the dice by self-administering a fatal dose of Propofol.

Murray is responding to the D.A.'s claims that he should stay in jailpending appeal because the grounds for challenging the conviction are bogus.

Murray makes a number of arguments, but the most interesting is the section titled, "FinancialCondition of Michael Jackson." Murray's lawyers put it this way: "Mr. Jackson was in debt approximately $440 million and desperately needed to fulfill a contractual commitment at the O2 arena in London."

The lawyers go on: "He was on the verge of losing his entire estate to foreclosure. The pressure to fight through his insomnia, to rehearse and be the entertainer he was in his earlier years was overwhelming."

And then the lawyers bring it home: "His motivation and resulting desperation were relevant to show a likelihood or reason to act in a manner inconsistent with good judgment."

The lawyers believe it was an error for the judge to exclude evidence of MJ's financial desperation.